Confession: I’ve never given blood before. In fact, I’m quite squeamish when it came to these sort of things (which is ironic if you know me and my interests). I’ve wanted to give blood, love the idea of sharing a precious resource, giving myself literally and helping others in life and death situations. Because when you think about it, it always is life and death when it comes to blood.

But the thought of it has always made me feel faint and slightly nauseated. I had blood drawn once for medical testing and I hated the whole experience. It made me feel weak, weird, swooning. I couldn’t look as it was being done. I swore that far too much blood was drawn and I was left with far too little. This whole thing was not for me, unfortunately.

Then in early 2010, my mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The doctors told her she would be transfusion dependent for the remainder of her life. Over the course of that summer and early fall, she received a few, regular transfusions. She disliked the process but was extremely grateful for the gift of blood, as we all were because it meant she was still with us.

As it turns out, her doctor’s pronouncement was wrong. With the help of a new diet and some care, she began regenerating her own blood again (a story for another post) and lived another year and a half until she passed, peacefully, earlier this year.

For me, there were so many things to learn in this time and so many feelings to process. One thing that keeps recurring was the need to contribute, in gratitude, and in honour of mom who wouldn’t have had the extra time she had to revisit old friends and old family, to see her youngest daughter married, to impart love and wisdom to her grandchildren without someone’s (and actually many peoples) selfless gift of blood.

So, my nervousness remains but it is a slight thing in the face of my commitment. And nothing would please me more than to have You join me and the others at Source Centre in making a donation of blood in our Partners in Life program. In exchange for your gift, we want to offer you thanks with a gift in return.

Please click here for more information on how you can join our program and the gifts that await.